Joy and Bill were Married on 26 February 1966
We celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary on 26 February 2016
Slim, lovely and delightfully at ease,
Long, slim legs and red curly hair,
Laughing and chatting with lots of friends
Was how I remembered her standing there,
That May day in nineteen sixty three,
On the Launceston Teacher’s College stair.
I could not know in the following year,
That a life together we would share.
Our appointments coincided in ‘sixty four,
At Smithton Primary on the far north west,
Two first year teachers learning their craft,
Enthusiastic and eager and full of zest
Joy’s her name and joyful her nature,
As teachers on staff would surely attest.
Her students enjoyed the time in her class,
As each were challenged to do their best.
Joy came to my twenty-first birthday party;
We danced that night in the Bangor Hall.
I was smitten before the night was out;
Who’d have thought in love I’d fall?
We dated seriously from November,
Enjoying the wonder of it all!
We naturally formed a team together
Quite complementary as I recall
Playing basketball for recreation,
Planning for lessons we taught in class,
Our partnership became a certainty,
Flourishing with each day that passed.
We married in February sixty six
With the die for the future firmly cast.
We’ve continued together for fifty years
Enjoying each challenge as years slide past.
Our careers started together and then diverged;
I was a principal for thirty years and four,
Enjoying leading school communities.
Joy helped teachers understand and explore
Mathematics teaching in the primary years.
Her influence spread beyond Tasmania’s shores
Through the Australian Maths Association,
Acknowledged by Life Membership and more.
We’ve watched our sons develop and grow;
Each characterised by his individuality.
We appreciate the values that they espouse
Whilst maintaining their sense of joviality.
Matt is a specialist in marine ecology
And pushes the boundaries of possibility.
Jem maintains the robotic interface
Improving production line capability.
Jem and Zsuzsanna have reason to be proud;
Reuben and Lilla are a source of delight,
Particularly their positive attitude to life,
Their caring for others and always polite.
We admire their focus on personal best
Whilst keeping individual goals in sight.
We love and appreciate this family of ours;
The future in their hands will be all right.
Recent years have been quite tough
As medical issues have reared their head.
With a positive outlook we have prevailed
By focusing on the ‘new normal’ instead.
House downsized and outlook fresh,
Ours is a different road to tread.
We’ll cherish contact with our friends,
And family, in the years ahead.
Our Golden Wedding Anniversary has arrived;
We’ve achieved a very special milestone.
Fifty years of marriage is an accomplishment,
Though the years between have simply flown.
Pisces and a Scorpio made memories together
As our Anniversary has shown
This has been a productive partnership –
In which each of us has grown!
26 February 2016
Bill Edmunds 